- Title: VARIOUS: UNITED STATES MAKES CONTROVERSIAL BALLISTIC MISSILE TEST
- Date: 9th July 2000
- Summary: VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, CALIFORNIA; USA (JULY 8, 2000) (REUTERS) 1. GV MISSILE CARRYING THE DUMMY WARHEAD BEING LAUNCHED FROM VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE IN CALIFORNIA (AUDIO CLAPPING AND CHEERING) / MV PEOPLE WATCHING LAUNCH/ AV MISSILE IN SKY (3 SHOTS) 0.35 WASHINGTON DC; USA (JULY 8, 2000) (REUTERS) 2. SLV NEWS BRIEFING AT THE PENTAGO
- Embargoed: 24th July 2000 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, CALIFORNIA; WASHINGTON, DC; UNITED STATES /BEIJING,CHINA
- City:
- Country: China
- Reuters ID: LVA8EYJFZR27WLLCSJPXSY5OQ9O4
- Story Text: The United States has failed to hit and destroy a
target warhead in space with an anti-missile weapon in a $100
million test of a proposed National Missile Defence system.
The test firing has unleashed a wave of anger in China.
Meanwhile, the United States and China, in their first arms
control talks in more than a year, have covered the issue of
TMD (Theatre Missile Defence) - which China opposes- and the
failure to bridge gaps over alleged Chinese sales of missile
technology to Pakistan.
The failed test of the proposed National Missile
Defence system occurred on Saturday (July 8).
"We did not intercept the warhead that we expected to have
tonight. We were disappointed with that", Air Force Lt. Gen.
Ronald Kadish, director of the missile defence effort, told
the media at the Pentagon.,
It was the second failure in three tries for the system
and is expected to weigh heavily in a decision planned by
President Bill Clinton in coming months on whether to begin
building an Alaskan radar for a limited missile defence next
year, over bitter objections from Russia and China.
Kadish said a "hit-to-kill" weapon fired from Kwajalein
Atoll in the central Pacific did not separate from the second
stage of its liftoff rocket and did not get a chance to
intercept a warhead launched about 20 minutes earlier from
Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, 4,300 miles (7,000 km)
away.
The weapon, with a successful intercept last October and
a test failure in January of this year, was launched from
Kwajalein at 12:40 a.m. EDT (0440 GMT). It was supposed to
intercept and smash into the warhead about 10 minutes later in
space at a speed of 15,000 mph (24,100 kph).
Addressing the media on Saturday, Kadish said, "We had
an initial delay to the launch because of some battery
problems that we were worked out on the target. As far as I
know, only one anomaly with the target launch in that we did
not get the decoy balloon to inflate. So it was an uninflated decoy."
The failure was a disappointment for Boeing Co., which is
coordinating the intricate "NMD" system of weapons, radars and
communications, and for Raytheon Corp., which builds the
prototype 121-pound (55 kg) "hit-to-kill" projectile.
Clinton is caught between bitter opposition from Moscow
and Beijing- who fear that a mature and successful U.S.
anti-missile system could neutralise their own nuclear
arsenals - and pressure from conservatives in the U.S.
Congress for quick deployment of limited protection against
threats from such states as North Korea, Iran and Iraq.
A chorus of scientific critics have charged that the three
tests to date have been controlled and "dumbed down" to make
the target easier to hit than it would be in a real attack.
News of the test was met with anger in China. Residents
in Beijing were unanimous in their criticism of the NMD
programme which is thought to be aimed against China.
"If the spear gets sharper, then the shield will get
bigger. NMD is like a strong shield for the U.S. It will
destabalise the balance of weapons in the world. Some
countries like Russia or China will try and find a way to
maintain the weapons balance. They (Russia and China) will
make new spears to deal with the new shield. It will be the
start of an arms race," said one company worker in Beijing.
Meanwhile in Beijing, John Holum, senior advisor on
arms control to the United States Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright, held a news conference on Saturday (July 8)
regarding US arms talks with China - the first since NATO
bombed China's embassy in Belgrade a year ago.
High up on their agenda were the issues of TMD or
Theatre Missile Defence and alleged Chinese sales of missile
technology to Pakistan.
China fears the TMD, intended to defend U.S. troops and
Asian allies against perceived missile threats from North
Korea, will be used to shelter Taiwan and embolden resistance
there against Beijing's determination to bring it back into
its fold.
"For the Chinese, TMD in the region is a concern and the
dominant concern is the possibility that we would consider TMD
for Taiwan for the obvious reasons. We have made clear in this
and in other meetings, that is a decision that has not been
made. We don't rule out the possibility that some time in the
future Taiwan may have TMD capabilities - we may assist Taiwan
but we haven't made that decision. The only decision we've
made is that when the technology becomes available, we will
use it in the defence of our own forces," said Holum.
Holum added: "The over-all Taiwan arms sale question
from our perspective is based on the "Three Communiques" and
the Taiwan Relations Act, and involves our supply of defences
capabilities, and the extent to which we and in turn Taiwan
consider they need defences depends on Chinese deployment of
offensive capabilities across the Straits. So our interest is
in preventing a missile competition and arms race across the
Straits. We would far rather see restraint on both sides."
discussing China's arms sales to Pakistan but the issue
remained unresolved.
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